Quentin Tarantino thinks Alec Baldwin holds some responsibility for the fatal shooting that occurred on the set of his western film, “Rust,” back in 2021.
The director discussed the incident and Baldwin’s subsequent criminal trial during an appearance on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast. The episode was released on Sunday.
Though Maher thought it was absurd that Baldwin was charged with mishandling the gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, Tarantino disagreed.
“I think I am being fair enough to say that the armorer, the guy who handles the gun, is 90% responsible for everything that happens when it comes to that gun,” said the “Pulp Fiction” director, who has had prop firearms on many of his film sets.
“But the actor is 10% responsible,” Tarantino added. “The actor is 10% responsible. It’s a gun. You are a partner in the responsibility to some degree.”
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Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for “Rust,” was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March, having been found responsible for accidentally loading live ammunition into the prop gun used on set.
While Baldwin faced the same charges, his case was dismissed after the defense accused police and prosecutors of hiding evidence during his trial last month.
Tarantino also explained how actors need to be properly trained and briefed before handling any firearms while filming, telling Maher that “if there’s steps to go through, you go through them. It’s done with due diligence, and you know it’s fucking for real.”
“Here’s how an actor can handle it,” Tarantino continued. “If he went through the steps that he was supposed to go through … they show you that the barrel is clear, that there’s not anything wedged in between the barrel. And then they show you some version of like, ‘Here are our blanks and here’s the gun, boom. Now you’re ready to go.’”
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When asked by Maher why movies don’t simply use visual effects instead of prop guns and blank rounds while filming, Tarantino offered a risqué comparison.
“I guess I can add digital erections to porno movies, but who wants to fucking watch that?” Tarantino replied, adding, “It’s exciting to shoot the blanks and to see the orange — the real orange fire, not add orange fire.”
The “Inglourious Basterds” auteur maintained that accidents from prop firearms on set are remarkably rare, noting how “for as many guns as we’ve shot off in movies, that we only have two examples of people being shot on the set by a gun mishap, that’s a pretty fucking good record.”
Tarantino was likely referring to 1994′s “The Crow” as his second example.
During production, actor Brandon Lee was killed when the lead tip of a bullet was lodged in the barrel of a handgun from a previous scene and later discharged when a blank was shot at Lee.
Outside of movie incidents, actor Jon-Erik Hexum was killed on the set of the CBS TV series “Cover Up” in 1984 after he accidentally shot himself in the head with a gun loaded with blanks.